Episode No. 6 recap: 'The Ultimate Fighter: Live'

http://mmajunkie.comAs the sixth episode of “The Ultimate Fighter: Live” begins, we watch some highlights from the previous week’s episode, in which Team Faber’s Mike Chiesa defeated Team Cruz’s Jeremy Larsen via unanimous decision.

Heading into tonight’s episode, the two teams are tied 2-2 with
the upcoming fifth opening-round fight, which pits Team Cruz’s Chris Tickle vs.
Team Faber’s Joe Proctor. But the previous fight is still a hot topic.

Mike, whose father passed away earlier in the season, dedicates the win to his mom. Jeremy, meanwhile, simply hopes his family knows he gave it his all.

Chris apparently arrived at the Mike vs. Jeremy fight rather drunk, and his loud mouth is growing tired on head coach Dominick Cruz.

“When he wakes up tomorrow and realizes he has to fight Procter, he’s going to [expletive] himself,” one Team Faber fighter jokes.

Back at the house, both Chris and Joe appear confident. Joe likes his upcoming opponent, but he can simply smirk as he watches a drunken Chris eat corndogs soon after weighing himself. Teammate Justin Lawrence wonders if Chris is really ready for the challenge ahead of him and makes mention of his constant distractions during training sessions.

The following day, Team Cruz’s Mike Rio mentions his knee still isn’t doing well. But talking to Justin, he may have wished he didn’t and says his teammate is often “intense” and “cocky,” even in casual conversations. Mike writes it off as Justin being “young and dumb.”

At a Team Cruz training session, Dominick apologizes to Chris for being hard on him the night before. The coach realizes he’s just better off letting Chris do his thing and prepare for the fight as he sees fit. Nonetheless, Dominick calls for an intense workout, and he pits Justin against Mike for some sparring. An ultra-intense Justin riles Mike, who soon resorts to takedowns and submission to combat the kicks coming at him. Things are heated, but Dominick likes the intensity.

At the Team Faber session, Joe talks to the cameras about his rough upbringing but how his father has gotten sober, turned his life around, and inspired his son. Head coach Urijah Faber calls him the silent-assassin type, and he thinks Joe is mentally tougher than his opponent. As they train, they work on foot and head movement since Chris is a technical striker.

Back at the house, Chris decided he’s going to play a prank on Team Faber by putting a jug of water atop the front door. Nearly every ounce of it lands directly on Joe, who easily laughs it off.

The following day is Easter, and the fighters are a bit homesick, but they find ways to entertain themselves in the pool, with a homemade Slip ‘n Slide, and a turkey dinner prepared by Chris. To the cameras, though, Chris opens up his past, why he found MMA, and how he’s now fighting for his family.

At a final Team Cruz training session, Dominick still isn’t sure what he’ll get out of Chris. They know their Joe Lauzon-trained opponent is going to be tough with good jiu-jitsu, so they train submission defense to complement his sprawl-and-brawl game.

At the weigh-ins, following some uncomfortable trash talk between the coaches, Chris hops on the scale with a piece of pizza and weighs 153 pounds. Joe comes in at 155, and our fight is good to go.

TEAM CRUZ’S CHRIS TICKLE (7-4) VS. TEAM FABER’S JOE PROCTOR (7-1)

Round 1 – A touch of gloves gets us started. The fighters trade some early shots. Chris fires off punches and kicks, but Joe checks them and remains in the pocket. Joe then unloads a two-punch combo, clinches and looks for the takedown. Chris fends it off and reverses before unloading some quick punches. Joe gets through a nice right and then a good counter left. Chris, though, tags him on the next exchange. Joe again takes the center of the cage, looks for knees, and clinches. Chris whiffs on an elbow as they break. Joe shoots soon after and gets the takedown and works for a rear-naked choke as Chris gets back to his feet. He clings to the hold, goes back to the mat, and Chris tries to break free. Joe, though, tightens the grip, and Chris taps out moments later.

After the fight, Team Faber, who now is up 3-2, makes the next pick. It’ll be Team Faber’s John Cofer vs. Team Cruz’s Vinc Pichel.

(Pictured: Joe Proctor)
Catch new episodes of “The Ultimate Fighter: Live” every Friday at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on FX. MMAjunkie.com recaps each episode of the reality series, and full series coverage can be found on “The Ultimate Fighter: Live” page.

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